Viewed some bikes-One was Cat D-advice needed please

Went to view some bikes this morning, A 600 and 1200 Bandit. Really, really liked the 1200 so much low down grunt. Anyhow it looked tidy the bloke had 3 other bikes in his garage (private seller) It’s had 2 new tyres, battery, sprockets. As an 04 plate with 19k on the clock he was asking £1850 ono which seemed cheap to me looking on the classifieds. He said he thought the speedo was showing quicker than it actually was after being on a run out with his mate. He bought this off his mate and had tidied it up as his mate didn’t look after it all that well. With hardly any effort got him down to £1600.

So I’ve came home and done a HPI check and it is listed as a Cat D write off in 2005. He never mentioned this so he either knows, and wants to try and pull a fast one or he doesn’t know. In either case should I just walk away or give him the benefit of the doubt and call him up and ask if he knew and if so the details. In either case I’d want more money of it. It was still a really tidy looking bike I’m just wondering if I should save myself any problems and walk away. So what’s the deal with Cat D’s? Will it be a nightmare for me to sell on? It had a little dent in the tank and small scratch which couldn’t have wrote it off!

Any advice appreciated. Got a couple more to go and see today including an SV.

Cheers

Categories Of Write-Off

An explanation of the categories of write-off are listed below:
Category A A vehicle which should have been totally crushed, including all its spare parts. Category B A vehicle from which spare parts may be salvaged, but the bodyshell should have been crushed and the car should never return to the road. Category C An extensively damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road. Category D A damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road. Category F A vehicle damaged by fire, which the insurer has decided not to repair. Theft These vehicles have not been recovered and ownership rests with the insurer who made the total loss payment. They are able to repossess the car as soon as it is identified, even if it has been bought innocently. http://www.autocheck.co.uk/write-off-categories.html

Thanks for the reply. I looked this up, so basically it been written off but not so badly it could be put back on the road. The thing that bothers me is it was just over a year old when it was written off so must have had a fair bit of damage?

[Nobbylad]

My K8 was written off cat D in March. Basically the bikini fairing and lhs lowers were cracked, the gear lever was snapped, lhs crash bung broken, lhs mirror scratched (the plastic bit, not the mirror), minor scratch on the fuel tank and lhs bar end broken.

I basically had the choice of writing it off or repairing it through the insurers as by the time all the items had been sourced brand new and the insurers labour costs were added on, it was over the threshold for economic repair.

I chose to write it off, they paid me about £3,600 for it, I bought it back for a grand and spent around £3-400 putting it back on the road.

I'll get into the the bloke and see what he says. What do you reckon I should offer him in light of the CAT D? Will it be difficult to sell on?

Cheers

its worth that all day long as a cat d...my sv was wrote off as a cat c in may this year, bought it back for £500 and spent 2-300 getting it back on road albeit fightered( better imho).....runs spot on, and worth 2k all day long....so id say yes its a good buy, bandit 12's are great bikes, just make sure the forks or yokes aint twisted and it will be fine...u wont lose on it

Cheers mate. The bloke is at work so I'll speak to him and see what he has to say for himself. What bothers me is that it's 2 owners and he knew the original owner who must have had it when it was written off, so I reckon he must have known. If he did know and hasn't told me then he could be hidng other things about it too. I might be proven wrong and he could prouduce loads of info like before and after picutres of the damage/repair.

I've done some reading about cat D's and insuring. Have you declared yours as CAT D with your insurance company/ did they ask. I've read that if you have an accident again on a Cat D and claim you get a much lower payout as the insurance company can't give a true valuation coz it cat D.

of course ins company will know...there dealing with my claim( non fault..1st in 26 yrs of riding)....as for price, cat c and d's dont affect the price much if put back to a satisfactory standard with a new mot(law)...like i say give it a good check over and walk away if owt aint right...theres loads out there

i had a cat d bike before and never knew about it lol i even brought it off a mate who never knew about it TBH it was one of the best bikes ive ever owned and i still know the owner today he loves it too and has had no problems, cat d is very minor and on a bike it can be something as simple as a cracked fairing or scratched frame, id say use it as a haggling point on the price and get alot of bike for not much'o money

The exactly my thinking mate-good for getting the price down. Can't see me getting rid of it anytime soon as it ticks all the boxes for what I want and if I can get it cheaper then it's a bonus.